It’s been over a decade since Minette Navarrete co-founded Kickstart Ventures, the Philippines’ most crucial technology venture capital fund, which invests globally in early- to growth-stage tech startups. Since then, she’s become a leading voice in the local startup industry and primarily focuses on opening doors for talented founders and entrepreneurs.

Under the leadership of Navarrete, Kickstart began investing before there was a Philippine startup scene, doubled down as local and regional startups emerged and scaled, and continued investing through the pandemic. The venture capital firm supports notable Philippine startups, including social entertainment app Kumu, agri e-commerce platform SariSuki, fast-growing coffee brand Pickup Coffee and parenting platform Edamama, as well as innovative tech solutions like Singapore’s Transcelestial Technologies, Eezee and TreeDots, and notable US companies like Dialpad, LotusFlare and Clarity, where Minette sits as a board member. Over the long term, its support has seen portfolio companies Coins. ph, Wattpad and ZAP enjoy profitable exits.

Navarrete co-chairs the Ayala Corporation’s Innovation Advisory Council and is an SVP at Globe Telecom, which wholly owns Kickstart. “The delta for learning is greatest for difficult missions, especially for the jobs with no set playbook,” she said. “But these maximise the opportunities to learn, experiment and innovate. I’m always drawn to chaotic circumstances where sense-making is both skill and art, and discovery is greatest.”

In 2023, Navarrete shared insights on being resolute on innovation and investing amidst unpredictable economic environments at the Queen Elizabeth Centre II in London during the globally celebrated London Tech Week. At the event, the UK’s Trade Commissioner for Asia-Pacific, Natalie Black, also announced Kickstart’s first UK investment in biotech startup Roslin Technologies via the ACTIVE Fund.

Kickstart Ventures’ third fund, the ACTIVE Fund (Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation Venture Fund), anchored by Ayala Corporation, demonstrates the 189-year-old conglomerate’s commitment to a better future for consumers and businesses, backing and co-creating the future of data, the future of work, smarter living and living spaces, and better resource availability and distribution.

Kickstart’s ultimate goal, aligned to that of Globe and Ayala, is a better quality of life, especially for people in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, through investing in solutions that address complex challenges like access to data and quality content and information, adequate food, mobility and energy. “We invest in solutions for the problems of today and tomorrow. This is certainly the time to double down,” shared Navarrete.